The Hunt
by Captain Cook
Summary: The Clone Saga continues, With Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Forge the Hammer Bro, and a few old Paper Mario friends on Belome's tail to keep him from making more brainwashed clones.
1. Briefing

**THE HUNT**

**Chapter 1: Briefing**

It was only but mere weeks after Mario and Peach had returned with Peach's clone named Apricot and a converted Hammer Bro named Forge. Apricot had recently started conseling sessions with one Trus T.

Mario, Luigi, and Forge had prepared in the meantime to hunt Belome, the one who made the clone for his own amoral purposes. Due to the true capability of his clones and his ability to brainwash them upon 'birth', our heroes decided he had to be stopped.

"Alright, everyone. Do you know why you're here?" Mario asked.

"To capture Belome," they all answered in unison.

"Correct. He must be captured. Not killed, captured. We'll need him if we want to further understand our new lesser princess's nature as a clone."

In addition to the three aforementioned, Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, and Yoshi were present. All of them had received messages from Mario asking for help. Since they just happened to be in or reasonably near the neighborhood at the time...

"Now... I suggest we split into three groups while we search the sewers. I will take Goombario and Bow. Luigi, you will take Bombette and Yoshi. Forge, you will take Kooper and Parakarry," Mario commanded.

"Why can't I go with Luigi?" Bow asked. "I'm sure he'd just _love_ my company!"

"You mean you'd constantly scare him to death, right?"

"Aww, you're no fun."

"Anyway, if any of you see Belome, back away carefully and send a message to us on your Mailbox DS. Don't let him leave your sight. Once everyone is present, we will discuss our plan of action depending on the area where he's in. You'll all be given means of tranquilizing him, but we can never be too sure. He is a very formidable opponent, and will try to escape if things start going south for him."

"So, how are we going to get him up here? And where's his cell?" Kooper asked.

"We plan to lock him in the local prison. He'll have to be muted so he can't have a heyday casting Aurora Flash over and over again," Mario said.

And so, after supplying everyone with their equipment, Mario and Friends entered the Kero Sewers on the hunt for the voracious omnivore.


	2. Searching

**Chapter 2: Searching**

Now everyone was split into their groups and searching the sewers for Belome.

"So, Forge. What do you think of life in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Kooper asked.

"Well, no one goes nuts when I do something wrong, so I guess that's a plus," Forge responded.

"What?"

"There are three things Bowser cares about: his men (except when they mess up, which happens a lot), himself, and Peach... although he recently tried to settle for Apricot."

"Apricot—oh, Peach's clone. It's a little weird to suddenly have a clone of the princess around."

"Now that I think about it, she seems to be quite shy," Parakarry said. "She'll hardly talk with anyone unless they're close enough to her or when she finds it necessary."

"After Bowser was tricked into admitting he manipulated her, she's found it difficult to talk to or trust in anyone. And now that everyone knows about Belome, the general population is a little scared of her, too," Forge said.

"Maybe her counselor can help her gain some confidence," Parakarry said. "But we're not accomplishing anything just standing here..."

* * *

"Oh, wow. Didn't know we had a clone around here," Goombario said.

"Then how did you...?" Mario asked.

"Well, the message I received said you were hunting a monster that lived in sewers and ate people. It didn't say anything about cloning."

"Then who wrote... ah, never mind. You're here anyway."

"Yeah, in this smelly, dank, terrible-"

"Hey! I didn't come here to listen to some Goomba complain for hours on end about something he got advance notice about!" Bow shouted. "How about you shut your trap and open it only when you have something _useful_ to say?"

"I'll shut my trap when I want to shut my trap, okay?"

"How about I possess you and make you headbonk against the wall until you knock yourself ou-"

"Both of you shut up!" Mario yelled. "I didn't bring you two here to bicker like young children!"

"Fair enough..."

* * *

"So Luigi, why didn't you help out when we were searching for the Star Spirits?" Bombette asked.

"Someone had to keep the house," Luigi answered.

"Yeah, but it's not like you guys have any pets or anything. And I'm sure someone could have done that for you. Your talents could have been put to good use..."

"He either has to be forced to leave or the situation has to be dire. He can't stand ghosts or particularly nasty monsters. I'm surprised he even came down here without being forced to." Yoshi said.

"You're not a coward, are you Luigi?" Bombette inquired.

Luigi refused to answer.

"Look. Is that... Belome?"

Yoshi pointed towards an open area with Belome sleeping.

"I think so," Bombette affirmed. "Wow, I can hear him snore from way over here."

"Who has the Mailbox DS?" Yoshi asked.

"I do!" Bombette said. Despite not having any visible hands, she began sending the other two groups series of messages concerning their find and location.

"Alright, they're on their way. We should be regrouping in less than 15 minutes."

And so the three waited for the others to reach their location as they kept an eye on Belome.


	3. Encounter

**Chapter 3: Encounter**

All nine party members had regrouped about 20 yards west of Belome's position.

"Yeah, that's him alright," Mario said. "Oh... this is not going to be easy. Potential escape routes are wide open, and in multiple directions, too... crud.

Oh well. I, Luigi, and Yoshi will directly attack him. The rest of you can slow him down if he tries to escape. If the tranquilizer doesn't work as well as expected, you'll have to keep him busy. Yoshi, your job will be to trap him in an egg when he gets weak enough."

"Belome being eaten... such sweet irony," Bow said. "So, are we ready to start this?"

"Yes," Mario replied. "Now, let's get closer to just about 10 yards away." So the team got closer and shot their tranquilizer darts. Belome woke up and soon realized he was being treated like a pincushion. He was not amused to have darts stuck all over his face. Everyone assumed combat formation.

"What? Trying to capture me like a zoo animal? Oh, _have at you_!" Belome said, casting Aurora Flash. However, he did not have experience casting it on nine people at once over a wide area, so the spell failed to properly work. Before trying again, he took time to notice who he was fighting.

"Oh, it's you again! Still bitter about what I said last time? I see you're none the wiser. No matter, she won't last long."

"Huh?" Mario said, surprised.

"She's not as biologically stable as you think she is. She might last a few years if you're lucky. It's a price to pay for quality. Not that it matters to me... after all, it pays to recycle!"

"Oh, _shut up_."

Mario and Luigi brought out the big guns with their Bros. Moves, which were more conservative with energy than solo special attacks. A shock from Thunder Bros. made him more tender, and a following Chopper Bros. taught Belome the meaning of pain.

The tranquilizer seemed to be taking effect, reducing Belome's speed and strength. But his will was too strong for him to be taken down by it alone. He could not break through Bros. Move after Bros. Move with Yoshi eggs on top, so he tried to escape... only to be intercepted by Bow's Fan Smack which made him dizzy and even less capable of fighting. Further attempts to escape only resulted in being shell shocked by the three Koopas.

Finally, he collapsed. Bombette wasted no time exploding on him before he could get up, followed by a charged Multibonk from Goombario.

He was now in to much pain, too exhausted, and too under the influence to do much of anything. Now it was Yoshi's turn to finish him off. With much pain and difficulty, he latched onto the beast with his tongue and swallowed him, turning him into a giant egg.

"Well, that wasn't very hard," Forge said.

"We still have to get him out of here." Mario said. "Yoshi, are you alright?"

"I'll be fine..." Yoshi said, "but man, I do _not_ want to do that again."

"Okay, guys, let's get this thing out of here without breaking it!"

Thus the team took the giant Yoshi egg and moved it through the sewers back to the town. Then, Toad Town officials helped move the egg to its new home. And thus, the Toad Town Zoo was started with its very first attraction! There was just one problem...

"Now, how are we going to keep him from casting spells?" Luigi asked.

"Well, until E. Gadd has a method to suppress his power ready, Princess Peach herself will have to periodically cast Mute on him."

"Are you sure that cage will hold him? He's not a pushover even if we did curb stomp him earlier."

"It's state of the art. Nonetheless, Belome is a very hostile beast and maintenance should be carried out with uttermost caution."

"Well, it's been a long night, bro. And hard, thanks to carrying Belome in that egg. So where did the others go?"

"They've either gone home or are sleeping in the inn for the night. I guess we should head back, too."

"Do you think he was right when he said Apricot doesn't have long to live?"

"He's made up nonsense before. I wouldn't be surprised if this was just more nonsense, but he could be telling the truth. I will have her health monitored periodically so I can verify it. But at any rate, there's not much we can do this time of night. Let's go home."

And thus Belome was caught without a hitch. But how long can he be kept in captivity? Will he manage to escape from his new prison? Only time will tell! Prepare for the next episode of THE CLONE SAGAAAAAAAA!


End file.
